In Darkest Hollywood


Book Description

Davis's path-breaking study relating film-making to broader social issues explains in part why the world tolerated South Africa's apartheid and racial brutality for so long.




Hollywood and Africa


Book Description

Hollywood and Africa - recycling the Dark Continent myth from 19082020 is a study of over a century of stereotypical Hollywood film productions about Africa. It argues that the myth of the Dark Continent continues to influence Western cultural productions about Africa as a cognitive-based system of knowledge, especially in history, literature and film. Hollywood and Africa identifies the colonial mastertext of the Dark Continent mythos by providing a historiographic genealogy and context for the terms development and consolidation. An array of literary and paraliterary film adaptation theories are employed to analyse the deep genetic strands of HollywoodAfrica film adaptations. The mutations of the Dark Continent mythos across time and space are then tracked through the classical, neoclassical and new wave HollywoodAfrica phases in order to illustrate how Hollywood productions about Africa recycle, revise, reframe, reinforce, transpose, interrogate and even critique these tropes of Darkest Africa while sustaining the colonial mastertext and rising cyberactivism against Hollywoods whitewashing of African history.







Christian Bale


Book Description

The darkest Batman is unmasked. During the London press junket for The Dark Knight in the summer of 2008, Christian Bale was infamously accused of assaulting his mother and sister at the five-star Dorchester Hotel. Six months later, a recording of Bale's rant on the set of Terminator Salvation was leaked, and the star's anger began to define him. But beyond his notorious temper, Bale, an Academy Award-winning actor for his role in The Fighter, is known for his ability to physically transform himself for roles in American Psycho, The Machinist, and as one of Hollywood's most revered and bankable characters—Batman. In Christian Bale: The Inside Story of the Darkest Batman, Best Biography winner in the 2013 Indie Excellence Awards and finalist in the 2013 Indie Book Awards, a 2013 Indie Book Awards Finalist for Best Biography, Bale's former publicist and assistant Harrison Cheung—his real-life Alfred—shares an inside look into the little-known personal life of the intensely private and reclusive actor. In the first biography of the Batman star, Cheung, who lived and worked with Christian and his father for 10 years, shares firsthand accounts of the Bales' familial dysfunction, Christian's morbid fascinations and dark humor, and his extreme dedication to his craft. Aware that Bale hated his traditional publicity duties, Cheung launched an extensive Internet marketing campaign for the actor, built the first official actor website for him, and cultivated the Baleheads, an online fan community that was used to garner editorial coverage and ultimately help Bale secure the role of the Caped Crusader. Written with veteran Hollywood and entertainment reporter Nicola Pittam, Christian Bale: The Inside Story of the Darkest Batman uncovers Bale's transformation from shy, English child actor to Internet sensation to Hollywood bad boy. *FOR DISTRIBUTION IN THE U.S. AND CANADA ONLY*




Pre-Code Hollywood


Book Description

Pre-Code Hollywood explores the fascinating period in American motion picture history from 1930 to 1934 when the commandments of the Production Code Administration were violated with impunity in a series of wildly unconventional films—a time when censorship was lax and Hollywood made the most of it. Though more unbridled, salacious, subversive, and just plain bizarre than what came afterwards, the films of the period do indeed have the look of Hollywood cinema—but the moral terrain is so off-kilter that they seem imported from a parallel universe. In a sense, Doherty avers, the films of pre-Code Hollywood are from another universe. They lay bare what Hollywood under the Production Code attempted to cover up and push offscreen: sexual liaisons unsanctified by the laws of God or man, marriage ridiculed and redefined, ethnic lines crossed and racial barriers ignored, economic injustice exposed and political corruption assumed, vice unpunished and virtue unrewarded—in sum, pretty much the raw stuff of American culture, unvarnished and unveiled. No other book has yet sought to interpret the films and film-related meanings of the pre-Code era—what defined the period, why it ended, and what its relationship was to the country as a whole during the darkest years of the Great Depression... and afterward.




The History of Hollywood


Book Description

The illustrated history of the sex, excess, murder, suicide, ambition, betrayal, and compromise behind the silver screen. It is now over 100 years since Hollywood became the center of American cinema and, while it has always presented itself as a place of glamour and home to the beautiful and talented, from its very creation there was a darker side to Tinseltown. Filmmakers didn't just move to southern California for its sunny weather, they went west to evade the patent laws restricting the use of movie cameras. From its earliest days, Hollywood, the home of fantasy, created a hothouse of excess--too much money, too much adulation, too much expectation, and too much ego. But while stars have always been indulged, once their moment in the limelight has passed, their fall can be cruel. The History of Hollywood covers it all, from the setting up of the studios by the movie moguls to the corporations that run them today, from drug addictions to McCarthy-era witch-hunts to #metoo. Intensively researched and superbly entertaining, the book reveals that the stories behind the silver screen are at least as gripping as many of those on it.




The Mask of Art


Book Description

Taylor exposes the concept of 'art' as a tool of ethnocentricity and radical ideology. He challenges the history of aesthetics as a recent invention of privileged Western consumerism and questions the myth of its ancient Greek origin.




Hollywood, Interrupted


Book Description

Hollywood, Interrupted is a sometimes frightening, occasionally sad, and frequently hysterical odyssey into the darkest realms of showbiz pathology, the endless stream of meltdowns and flameouts, and the inexplicable behavior on the part of show business personalities. Charting celebrities from rehab to retox, to jails, cults, institutions, near-death experiences and the Democratic Party, Hollywood, Interrupted takes readers on a surreal field trip into the amoral belly of the entertainment industry. Each chapter — covering topics including warped Hollywood child-rearing, bad medicine, hypocritical political maneuvering and the complicit media — delivers a meticulously researched, interview-infused, attitude heavy dispatch which analyzes and deconstructs the myths created by the celebrities themselves. Celebrities somehow believe that it's their god-given right to inflict their pathology on the rest of us. Hollywood, Interrupted illustrates how these dysfunctional dilettantes are mad as hell... And we're not going to take it any more.




Mouse in Orbit


Book Description

From Animation to Arbitration. In *Mouse in Transition*, the prequel to this book, Steve Hulett told the story of his ten years at Disney Feature Animation. Now Hulett recounts his next twenty years in the animation industry, away from the drawing board and into the trenches as a union representative.




Hollywood's Dark Secrets: Unveiling the Casting Couch


Book Description

Understanding the Concept of Casting Couch in Hollywood In the glitzy world of Hollywood, where dreams are made and fortunes are won, there exists a dark underbelly that has plagued the industry for decades - the notorious casting couch. This subchapter aims to shed light on the concept of the casting couch, its prevalence in Hollywood, and the devastating effects it has had on countless aspiring actors and actresses. The casting couch refers to the practice of demanding sexual favors in exchange for career advancement or roles in the entertainment industry. It is a despicable abuse of power, where infiuential individuals exploit their positions of authority to prey on vulnerable and ambitious talent seeking their big break. While the casting couch is not limited to Hollywood, it has become synonymous with the glitz and glamour of the film industry. This subchapter delves into the origins of the casting couch, tracing its roots back to the early days of Hollywood. It explores how the lack of regulations and accountability allowed this toxic culture to thrive, with powerful figures taking advantage of their positions to exploit aspiring actors and actresses. It also examines the role of complicity within the industry, as many turned a blind eye or actively participated in perpetuating this culture of exploitation. By highlighting real-life accounts and testimonies from victims, this subchapter aims to bring awareness to the dark secrets of Hollywood's casting couch. It explores the devastating emotional and psychological toll it takes on its victims, often leaving them traumatized, disillusioned, and with shattered dreams. It also examines the lasting impact on the industry itself, as talented individuals are denied opportunities based on their refusal to comply with these unethical demands